As the Frankfurt motor show kicks off across the pond, talk of industry consolidation is in the air. No, not from Sergio Marchionne, whose constant consolidation drumbeat is starting to resemble the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf (or is it The Emperor Has No Clothes?). It is that other truthsayer, Carlos Ghosn, who wouldn’t go into details but did say consolidation is “a fact of our industry” given the cost of technology, according to Wards Auto.
Consolidation is also a fact of the dealership industry, also for cost-related reasons. That’s why we exist. Since buy-sell is a fact, we want to provide knowledge and resources to assist those who are involved in the dealership buy sell industry.
This week, Mark Johnson returns with a fresh comment on why auctioning off a dealership is not a good way to obtain top value for your franchise. Selling a dealership is like getting naked in the middle of the street, he says. All your assets are out there for everyone to see. (Okay he didn’t exactly say that, but I’m extrapolating.) To see why he thinks that’s a bad idea, read his column.
I talked with Dan DeVos of Fox Motors last week about how his dealership group came to be. It was a little bit by chance. He went to Northwood University to study business, but not the business of selling cars. The rest, as they say, is history. Read about his expansion plans in this week’s issue.
Naturally we also have Transaction News.
Enjoy!
